Government House (Ontario)
Encyclopedia
Government House was the official residence
of the Lieutenant Governor
of Upper Canada
and Ontario
, Canada
. Four buildings were used for this purpose, none of which exist today, making Ontario one of four provinces to not have an official vice-regal
residence.
at the turn of the 19th century, first occupied by the colony's second Lieutenant Governor, Peter Hunter
. The structure was destroyed when a nearby powder magazine exploded in 1813 during the War of 1812
.
After the destruction of the Fort York house, the government of the colony purchased a more commodious residence for its Lieutenant Governor. The next Government House was located in a wooded area to the west of the settled portion of the (then) Town of York
, roughly midway on the block now occupied by Roy Thomson Hall
and Metro Hall
in downtown Toronto. Built in 1798, the residence was originally the home of the Chief Justice and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
, John Elmsley, and it served as the colony's Government House from 1815 to 1841 (and intermittently from 1841 to 1858, whenever Toronto served as the capital of the Province of Canada
). For many years after its purchase by the government, the residence was still known by the name of its former owner, with the correspondence of the Lieutenant-Governor typically dated from "Elmsley House".
The building was destroyed by fire in 1862.
Four years after the fire at Elmsley House, the firm of Gundry and Langley of Toronto was commissioned to design a new Government House on the same site.
In 1868, constructed began on a new Government House, designed in the Second Empire style by architect Henry Langley
. A three-storey red brick home, trimmed with Ohio cut stone, the building featured a tower, steeply sloped mansard roofs and dormer windows, with the main entrance and carriage porch facing Simcoe Street. Both the drawing room on the first floor and the state bedroom on the second floor faced Lake Ontario
over a large landscaped garden. Completed in 1870, the house cost , and its first resident was John Beverley Robinson
.
By the 20th century, the development of railways and industrial uses nearby prompted the provincial government to seek a more appropriate location for its vice-regal residence, as it had done more than a century before. The third Government House was torn down in 1912 and the land was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway
.
, and twelve architects submitted proposals in 1909. However, as that area was becoming too commercial, the Province moved the site to a 0.06 km² (14 acre
) parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto's Rosedale
neighbourhood. The proceeds from the sale of the Bloor Street site were used to acquire the land in Rosedale.
The fourth Government House
was constructed between 1911 and 1915. Dubbed Chorley Park, the house was designed by architect Francis R. Heakes
and built of Credit Valley stone in a French Renaissance
style, reminiscent of French châteaux in the Loire Valley. It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time, and outshone even Rideau Hall
in size and grandeur. Sir John Strathearn Hendrie
and his wife were the first vice-regal couple to live at Chorley Park.
During the Great Depression
, Mitchell Hepburn
made it a key component of his party's election platform to close Chorley Park, promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario; Chorley Park used 965 tons of coal to operate, whereas the average Toronto home used only six to seven. After Hepburn was appointed Premier
, following the Liberal Party
's victory in the 1936 provincial election, he was as good as his word and ensured that Albert Edward Matthews
would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence; in 1937, after only 22 years and seven viceroys, Chorley Park was closed. The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938, bringing in a profit of $18,000, and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House
. (Alberta
also closed its government house
in 1938.) The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II
, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
in Toronto, and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising
, including several of Imre Nagy
's staff members.
Under mayor Nathan Phillips
in 1960, the City of Toronto
bought the house for $100,000 in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland. At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded, and municipal dollars were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings. The building was demolished in 1961, and the grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system.
The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt, and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations. The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a 'naturalized' park.
Ontario's Lieutenant Governor currently uses an office and suite of rooms for entertainment at the Ontario Legislature, and lives in his or her private Toronto home, or is provided a rented residence by the Governor-in-Council
.
Official residence
An official residence is the residence at which heads of state, heads of government, gubernatorial or other senior figures officially reside...
of the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Four buildings were used for this purpose, none of which exist today, making Ontario one of four provinces to not have an official vice-regal
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
residence.
First Government House
The first vice-regal residence of Upper Canada was a one-storey frame house built at Fort YorkFort York
Fort York is a historic site of military fortifications and related buildings on the west side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was built by the British Army and Canadian militia troops in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, to defend the settlement and the new capital of the...
at the turn of the 19th century, first occupied by the colony's second Lieutenant Governor, Peter Hunter
Peter Hunter
Lieutenant-General Peter Hunter was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He was eldest son to John Hunter laird of Knapp and Euphemia Jack of Longforgan, Perthshire, Scotland....
. The structure was destroyed when a nearby powder magazine exploded in 1813 during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
Second Government House (Elmsley House)
York, Upper Canada
York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...
, roughly midway on the block now occupied by Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
and Metro Hall
Metro Hall
Metro Hall is a 27-storey Postmodern office tower at the corner of Wellington and John Streets in Toronto, Canada. It looks out onto Pecaut Square. Part of the three-tower Metro Centre complex, the building was completed in 1992 to house the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and its employees...
in downtown Toronto. Built in 1798, the residence was originally the home of the Chief Justice and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council of Upper Canada
The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist of at least seven members. Members were appointed for...
, John Elmsley, and it served as the colony's Government House from 1815 to 1841 (and intermittently from 1841 to 1858, whenever Toronto served as the capital of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
). For many years after its purchase by the government, the residence was still known by the name of its former owner, with the correspondence of the Lieutenant-Governor typically dated from "Elmsley House".
The building was destroyed by fire in 1862.
Third Government House
In 1868, constructed began on a new Government House, designed in the Second Empire style by architect Henry Langley
Henry Langley (architect)
Henry Langley was a Canadian architect based in Toronto. He was active from 1854 to 1907. Among the first architects born and trained in Canada, he was a founding members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1880 and was instrumental in establishing the Ontario Association of Architects in 1889...
. A three-storey red brick home, trimmed with Ohio cut stone, the building featured a tower, steeply sloped mansard roofs and dormer windows, with the main entrance and carriage porch facing Simcoe Street. Both the drawing room on the first floor and the state bedroom on the second floor faced Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
over a large landscaped garden. Completed in 1870, the house cost , and its first resident was John Beverley Robinson
John Beverley Robinson
John Beverley Robinson was elected mayor of Toronto in 1856. He was the fifth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario between the years 1880–1887....
.
By the 20th century, the development of railways and industrial uses nearby prompted the provincial government to seek a more appropriate location for its vice-regal residence, as it had done more than a century before. The third Government House was torn down in 1912 and the land was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
.
Fourth Government House (Chorley Park)
Initially, the government sought to construct a new Government House on Bloor Street EastBloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...
, and twelve architects submitted proposals in 1909. However, as that area was becoming too commercial, the Province moved the site to a 0.06 km² (14 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
) parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto's Rosedale
Rosedale, Toronto
Rosedale is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance....
neighbourhood. The proceeds from the sale of the Bloor Street site were used to acquire the land in Rosedale.
The fourth Government House
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the residences of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by...
was constructed between 1911 and 1915. Dubbed Chorley Park, the house was designed by architect Francis R. Heakes
Francis R. Heakes
Francis Ryley Heakes was a Canadian architect. He studied under Kivas Tully in the mid-1880s. He was at one time Chief Architect of the Public Works Department of the Province of Ontario. Among his important commissions were the Whitney Block in downtown Toronto, the Mining Building at the...
and built of Credit Valley stone in a French Renaissance
French Renaissance
French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...
style, reminiscent of French châteaux in the Loire Valley. It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time, and outshone even Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 0.36 km2 estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of 170 rooms across 9,500 m2 , and 24 outbuildings around the...
in size and grandeur. Sir John Strathearn Hendrie
John Strathearn Hendrie
Sir John Strathearn Hendrie, KCMG, CVO was the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1914 to 1919.John Hendrie was born in 1857 in Hamilton, Ontario and was educated at Upper Canada College. He became a railway contractor and promoted the Hamilton Bridge Works. In 1885 he married Lena Henderson...
and his wife were the first vice-regal couple to live at Chorley Park.
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Mitchell Hepburn
Mitchell Hepburn
Mitchell Frederick Hepburn was the 11th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest Premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37....
made it a key component of his party's election platform to close Chorley Park, promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario; Chorley Park used 965 tons of coal to operate, whereas the average Toronto home used only six to seven. After Hepburn was appointed Premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
, following the Liberal Party
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
's victory in the 1936 provincial election, he was as good as his word and ensured that Albert Edward Matthews
Albert Edward Matthews
Albert Edward Matthews was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.Matthews was born in Lindsay, Ontario. He worked as an investment broker in Toronto and rose to the position of director. Matthews served as Ontario's 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1937 to 1946...
would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence; in 1937, after only 22 years and seven viceroys, Chorley Park was closed. The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938, bringing in a profit of $18,000, and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House
Government Houses of Canada
In Canada, Government House is a title given to the official residences of the country's monarch and various viceroys...
. (Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
also closed its government house
Government House (Alberta)
Government House is the former official residence of the lieutenant governors of Alberta, currently retained for ceremonial events and entertaining.The property for the house was purchased by the Province of Alberta in 1910, as well as the surrounding area...
in 1938.) The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
in Toronto, and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
, including several of Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions...
's staff members.
Under mayor Nathan Phillips
Nathan Phillips (politician)
Nathan Phillips, KC was a Canadian politician and popular Mayor of Toronto, Ontario.-Early life:Born in Brockville, Ontario, the son of Jacob Phillips and Mary Rosenbloom, he was educated in public and high schools in Cornwall. In 1908, he articled with the Cornwall lawyer, Robert Smith, who later...
in 1960, the City of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
bought the house for $100,000 in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland. At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded, and municipal dollars were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings. The building was demolished in 1961, and the grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system.
The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt, and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations. The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a 'naturalized' park.
Ontario's Lieutenant Governor currently uses an office and suite of rooms for entertainment at the Ontario Legislature, and lives in his or her private Toronto home, or is provided a rented residence by the Governor-in-Council
Executive Council of Ontario
The Executive Council of Ontario plays an important role in theGovernment of Ontario, in accordance with the Westminster system....
.
See also
- Government Houses of CanadaGovernment Houses of CanadaIn Canada, Government House is a title given to the official residences of the country's monarch and various viceroys...
- Government Houses of the CommonwealthGovernment Houses of the British Empire and CommonwealthGovernment House is the name given to some of the residences of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by the occupant...
- Monarchy in OntarioMonarchy in OntarioBy the arrangements of the Canadian federation, Canada's monarchy operates in Ontario as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. As such, the Crown within Ontario's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Ontario, Her Majesty in Right of Ontario, or the...
- Lieutenant Governors of Ontario